TOLKIEN, J.R.R. Six autograph letters signed ("J.R.R. Tolkien"), Paris, 13 August 1913-25 August 1913, to Mr. Killion. Together 36½ pages, 8vo, on Hotel des Champs-Elysées stationery, in fine condition . TOLKIEN IN THE MIDST OF TRAGEDY An interesting group of early Tolkien letters providing a highly detailed account of the tragedy that bestruck him while serving as a tutor to two young Mexican boys and their aunt in 1913. It was a year of great changes for the writer: on his January 3rd birthday Tolkien pleaded for marriage with Edith Bratt and within days she had broken her ties with another man and agreed. An academic change would also prove instrumental in his later development as a writer: at the urging of a professor who recognized his passion for Old and Middle English texts, he agreed to abandon Classics and study English. In the midst of these events, Tolkien travelled to France in the summer as tutor and escort to two young boys, Jose and Eustagnia, and their aunt, Mme Angela. Tolkien loved Paris but the rest of the country did nothing to dispel his dislike of France and Frenchmen. During their visit to Dinard in Brittany, the aunt was struck by a car and died soon after. Hasty preparations were made for the boys return to England while the body was returned to Mexico. On his return Tolkien remarked to Edith: "Never again except I am in the direst poverty will I take any such job". In this series of letters, Tolkien writes presumably to the boys' father detailing the tragedy and all of the many logistical problems surrounding the aftermath. He discusses the need for an autopsy, Mme. Angela's desire to have her body returned to Mexico and the French beaurocracy in getting this accomplished. He asks Mr. Killion's advice as to whether or not the boys should miss a term of school in order to return to Mexico, and discusses the Mexican tradition of wearing mourning clothes for a year. An interesting discussion occurs in the August 20th letter regarding his tutoring of the boys: "Rushing about sight-seeing or any obvious form of enjoyment is of course out of the questions for a while so I have tried to find out what the best, most readable, and best palpable 'instructive' of boys books they haven't read. Many of these I have got in cheap editions-- (the Tauchnitz is of course the most available but has the drawback of its being contraband on the return to England)... such as King Solomon's Mines, Kim and so forth... [Jose] is now reading 'The White Company.'" See Humphrey Carpenter, Tolkien , Boston, 1977, pp.67-68, for further discussion of the incident. These letters were written six months before the first letter included in Tolkien's Letters (New York: Houghton Mifflin, 2000), and no letters from this period have been sold at auction, according to American Book Prices Current. The earliest letter recorded in ABPC is from 17 March 1920 regarding questions on an exam. A FINE GROUP OF EARLY TOLKIEN MATERIAL. (6)
TOLKIEN, J.R.R. Six autograph letters signed ("J.R.R. Tolkien"), Paris, 13 August 1913-25 August 1913, to Mr. Killion. Together 36½ pages, 8vo, on Hotel des Champs-Elysées stationery, in fine condition . TOLKIEN IN THE MIDST OF TRAGEDY An interesting group of early Tolkien letters providing a highly detailed account of the tragedy that bestruck him while serving as a tutor to two young Mexican boys and their aunt in 1913. It was a year of great changes for the writer: on his January 3rd birthday Tolkien pleaded for marriage with Edith Bratt and within days she had broken her ties with another man and agreed. An academic change would also prove instrumental in his later development as a writer: at the urging of a professor who recognized his passion for Old and Middle English texts, he agreed to abandon Classics and study English. In the midst of these events, Tolkien travelled to France in the summer as tutor and escort to two young boys, Jose and Eustagnia, and their aunt, Mme Angela. Tolkien loved Paris but the rest of the country did nothing to dispel his dislike of France and Frenchmen. During their visit to Dinard in Brittany, the aunt was struck by a car and died soon after. Hasty preparations were made for the boys return to England while the body was returned to Mexico. On his return Tolkien remarked to Edith: "Never again except I am in the direst poverty will I take any such job". In this series of letters, Tolkien writes presumably to the boys' father detailing the tragedy and all of the many logistical problems surrounding the aftermath. He discusses the need for an autopsy, Mme. Angela's desire to have her body returned to Mexico and the French beaurocracy in getting this accomplished. He asks Mr. Killion's advice as to whether or not the boys should miss a term of school in order to return to Mexico, and discusses the Mexican tradition of wearing mourning clothes for a year. An interesting discussion occurs in the August 20th letter regarding his tutoring of the boys: "Rushing about sight-seeing or any obvious form of enjoyment is of course out of the questions for a while so I have tried to find out what the best, most readable, and best palpable 'instructive' of boys books they haven't read. Many of these I have got in cheap editions-- (the Tauchnitz is of course the most available but has the drawback of its being contraband on the return to England)... such as King Solomon's Mines, Kim and so forth... [Jose] is now reading 'The White Company.'" See Humphrey Carpenter, Tolkien , Boston, 1977, pp.67-68, for further discussion of the incident. These letters were written six months before the first letter included in Tolkien's Letters (New York: Houghton Mifflin, 2000), and no letters from this period have been sold at auction, according to American Book Prices Current. The earliest letter recorded in ABPC is from 17 March 1920 regarding questions on an exam. A FINE GROUP OF EARLY TOLKIEN MATERIAL. (6)
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.jpg "Source: Christie's")
.jpg "Source: Christie's")
